For Goodness Sake: Towing woes

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - The battle over the questionable practices of some Philadelphia tow truck operators is one of the darker issues in our city. But in every situation we can find some light. As he does each night Bill Anderson found a man who decided to stand up for people who can’t always stand up for themselves and try to make things better….For Goodness Sake.

FOX 29's Bill Anderson was trying to come up with something to compare Philadelphia tow truck Companies to and the best he could come up with was taxes. In some circumstances, you may acknowledge that they’re necessary, but they’re still painful, annoying and most of us would rather not deal with them.

There have been hearings in city council, undercover sting videos and a vote on new legislation today. All trying to address what many see as an ongoing problem of aggressive tow truck operators ,

Most people either don’t know how or don’t have the time or resources to fight but a person who works at community legal services did and decided he wasn’t going let it go.

“Here are the pictures of my car legally parked. Here are the pictures they took of my car an hour and a half later. Someone, I’m not sure who, but it seems like there was a financial incentive for the towing company to set up temporary no parking signs," said David Wengart.

The pictures showing the alleged bait and switch would’ve been comical if they didn’t have significant financial impact but because of his background working for community legal services Dave Wengert felt like he had to take a stand so he sued and won.

“230 dollars for me, I’m lucky enough to be able to afford that. But I work with a lot of people and I know a lot of Philadelphians who this is a significant part of their income," he explained. If you’re making a thousand dollars a month that’s a quarter of your income."

He filed the case to fight back but he spoke to us about it because it’s an opportunity to stand up and show people that they have options other than just take the abuse that some companies give them.

“I get to work for a great organization that fight for low income people. I feel like its partly my role to step in in situations where I’ve been wronged and I know others have been wronged in the same way and try to demand some accountability," said David.

Listen David is clear that his lawsuit isn’t going to change the world but his work with low income families also makes it clear to him that not everybody has the ability to stand up so if you have the chance to make a statement, even if it’s a symbolic one, for good ness sake, its your responsibility.